House of Representatives vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary

The Republican led House of Representatives have narrowly voted to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, making him the first cabinet member to face impeachment in almost 150 years.

The first attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed last week, but last night the chamber voted 214 to 213 in favour to impeach. Many Republicans blame Mayorkas for an unprecedented influx of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border.

The Senate, which is led in the majority by the Democrats, will now hear the issue and take a vote. It's likely to fail to pass this next step. President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the vote a "blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship" and a "political stunt".

More than 6.3 million migrants have entered the US illegally since 2021. The issue is a major focus of Donald Trump's campaign for the November elections.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Mia Ehrenberg, accused Republicans of spending their time "trampling on the constitution" instead of "working to solve the serious challenges at our border".

The vote followed party lines, with only three Republicans voting not to impeach, which they did at the first hearing, along with the 210 Democrats who make up the House. The Republican defectors said that impeaching someone who had not committed a serious crime would weaken the constitutional penalty and do little to address the crisis at the border.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise made the deciding vote after he missed the last vote because of cancer treatment. His return gave Republicans the margin needed to secure the vote.

Democrat Al Green, of Texas, appeared unexpectedly after being wheeled into the chamber wearing hospital scrubs to vote against the impeachment. He had been in an emergency room having surgery.

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